Special counsel bill backfires on DPK as June 3 races tighten in PPP heartland

What once appeared to be a near-certain landslide victory for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is becoming more competitive as the June 3 local elections approach, with conservative candidates narrowing the gap in several key battlegrounds. The shift comes as backlash grows over the DPK’s push for a special counsel bill tied to what the ruling party calls “fabricated prosecutions” under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration. The controversy has energized conservative voters in parts of the country where the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) had appeared to be collapsing only weeks ago, particularly in the southeastern strongholds of Daegu, Busan and the Gyeongsang provinces. Political observers, however, say the overall landscape still favors the DPK, arguing that what appears to be a conservative rebound may simply reflect traditional conservative voters returning to the PPP rather than a broad shift among swing voters. Earlier in the campaign, some analysts had floated a “15-to-1 scenario,” referring to the possibility that the DPK could win 15 of the natWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times